Just south of Sunset Point and part of one of the Algonquin campgrounds is MacGregor Point’s Pitcher Plant Marl. We often take a walk through the campgrounds and end up at the marl, especially just before the sun sets. There is a lookout area that you can get a good look at the mucky soil and some wildlife and wildflowers.

On one particular visit, back in 2007, we ventured over to the marl to see the sunset and see what kind of wildlife we could spot. Out on one of the larger boulders found in the fen-pond ecosystem we found a male Common Whitetail dragonfly perched. Males have a white or light blue abdomen, which was quite visible from our lookout spot.

Off in the distance we spotted stunted tamaracks struggling and other shrubby plants like Shrubby Cinquefoil and a variety of sedges and grasses.

A little bit of flash uncovered this green frog resting in the mucky soil in a shallow layer of water.

This is the view of the marl from the wooden viewing platform. The area is quite large and we often use either a telephoto lens or binoculars to spot more plants and animals beyond the area of the platform. Just past the trees is the beach and Lake Huron. There isn’t a path through the marl since the park would like to keep it intact and protected from use.

Here is another green frog we spotted but it was in the grass just under the platform.

While focusing on the frog above, something moved off to the side and as I turned to looked I captured a shot of this mouse. He was moving at the time so it’s a little blurry but nice to photograph so close up, if only he would have stopped and posed for a shot!

As the sun started to move closer to the horizon the reflections started to appear in the flat, calm water.

Later on, as the sky started to turn pink I captured some cloud reflections in the water, along with the trees and the sedges.

From the campgrounds this is one of the best spots to watch the sunset at MacGregor Point Provincial Park. Of course the appropriately named “Sunset Point” is also a good spot. Any location along the beach, since it faces almost due west, would allow visitors to watch the sun set over Lake Huron. For those of you unfamiliar with the size of the lake, I have been told by visitors from other countries that it looks more like a sea than a lake.